There is a market demand for such surface coverings which have an attached foam structure. This may be provided by a foamed backing applied to the coated glass fiber substrate. Such a foamed backing may be made from polyvinyl chloride, polyurethane, or a synthetic rubber latex. When the substrate is coated with a plastisol of a copolymer or homopolymer of vinyl chloride, there is a good adhesion between the coated substrate and polyvinyl chloride or polyurethane foams. Unfortunately, there is poor adhesion between the coated substrate and foams manufactured from conventional synthetic high solids styrene-butadiene rubber latices. However, from the viewpoint of cost, such synthetic latex foam rubber offers an advantage over polyvinyl chloride and polyurethane foams.
Accordingly there is a need to develop an improved synthetic rubber latex which when foamed will have good adhesion to glass fiber substrates coated with a plastisol of a copolymer or homopolymer of vinyl chloride. There is also a need for a method of manufacturing an improved composite material comprising a woven or non-woven glass fiber substrate coated with a plastisol of a copolymer or homopolymer of vinyl chloride to which is attached a synthetic latex foam rubber. The present invention seeks to meet these needs.